‘Anyone But Carvin’ (Updated)

Rye Town Supervisor Joe Carvin, the third Republican to enter the fray against Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, is making his case in Watertown today, and as he does so, an upstate GOP county chairman is making the case against him.

A reader forwarded this letter sent to fellow chairs yesterday by Franklin County GOP Chairman Jim Ellis, who calls Carvin’s opponents for the GOP line, attorney Wendy Long and Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos, “real choices” to run against Gillibrand, but rejects the “hedge fund trader” supervisor as too liberal for Republican tastes.

“(I)t’s clear that his views have more in common with President Obama, who he voted for, than our party,” Ellis wrote.

“He supports abortion rights, which I do not and can not support; he has not voted in any Republican primary and he stands a good chance of being questioned on his investment company.”

“With just a few days until our nominating convention, we can’t afford to nominate a candidate who is out of step on the issues that matter and questionable on the performance we need,” the chairman continued.

“In the case of Mr. Maragos and Ms. Long, we have two candidates who can unite the Republicans and Conservative efforts in New York State to send Ms. Gillibrand and her President packing in November.”

The Conservatives appear en route to picking Long to carry their banner against Gillibrand in November. Their convention will be on March 19 in NYC, while the Republicans are gathering in Rochester on March 16.

Update: Carvin campaign spokesman Bill O’Reilly sent over this response.

“Chairman Ellis has every right to support his own candidate in this race, but to suggest that Joe Carvin is not a conservative Republican is preposterous. But more than that, it is inaccurate. Mr. Carvin is a staunch fiscal conservative, and he backs it up with action. No town supervisor in New York has governed more conservatively. He slashed spending by 25% in Rye and is working to dissolve the town — and his job — to save taxpayer money.

Mr. Carvin, who donated to Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney in the 2008 Presidential race, strongly opposes late-term abortions and he is a firm believer in Ronald Reagan’s ‘Peace Through Strength.’ The fact that he speaks five languages, including fluent Spanish, only makes him more valuable as a candidate in espousing the Republican message to groups Republicans should be talking to. Those are the facts.”